Caldwell takes down Storm

Point guard K.J. Jones scored 20 points and forward Cordaris Townes had 14 as Caldwell Community College beat DCCC 64-51 at Brinkley Gym on Wednesday.

BY MIKE DUPREZThe Dispatch

Davidson County Community College likes to run, run, run and then run some more.The Cobras from Caldwell Community College wanted to take it slow Wednesday night.And slow was the word.Point guard K.J. Jones scored 20 points and forward Cordaris Townes had 14 as the Cobras ground out a 64-51 win over normally high-flying DCCC in Region X play at Brinkley Gym to break a four-game losing streak."They deserved to win," said DCCC coach Matt Ridge. "Congratulations to Caldwell. They were hungrier than us. They lost to Sandhills on Saturday and they understood that if you start out 0-2, it's tough to win the league. They came out and took it to us and played harder than us. I accept responsibility for that. It's on my shoulders to get us ready to play."The Cobras (8-8 overall, 1-1 Region X) sure were ready.Caldwell pressed on defense in the backcourt, crashed the boards, sat back in a zone and dared DCCC to hit from the outside and milked the 35-second clock on offense to limit DCCC's chances. The Storm, who have scored more than 100 points five times, shot just 29.8 percent and were outrebounded 47-32."You know what Davidson wants to do and they're very good at it," said Caldwell coach Matt Anderson. "Coach Ridge does a good job. It worked at times and at times it didn't. Luckily, we got a win."It might have been more than that. DCCC (13-3 overall, 0-1 Region X) often gets 51 points in a half. Still, Anderson wouldn't crow and didn't expect his team to hold the Storm to 51 points."No," Anderson said. "That's a very good team and they're going to be dangerous in our conference. We've got to continue to work hard."Right now, the Storm may have more work to do.The only consistent offensive threat for the Storm was 5-7 guard Ace Chalmers, who led his team with 14 points. Brandon Davis had nine but shooting guard Daniel Lawson was held to six before fouling out with 5:40 left in the game. The Storm were a collective 6-for-24 from behind the arc and their inability to control the boards limited fast break opportunities."When you're not shooting well, you've got to find other ways to score," Ridge said.The Storm were still in a tie game at 32-32 with 16 minutes left when Lawson came up with a steal and fed Davis for a breakaway layup.But the Cobras reeled off a 7-0 run highlighted by a Townes tomahawk dunk and took the lead for good.A 3-pointer by Robert Storey, followed moments later by a putback from Corey Burnette off a missed free throw had DCCC within 46-42 with 8:30 remaining.Once again, Caldwell had an answer. The Cobras scored nine straight points, capped by the 6-5 Townes' leaping tip-in, to take a 55-42 lead with 6:21 to go. DCCC cut it to 59-51 with 2:46 left on a 3-pointer by Chalmers but the Storm went scoreless the rest of the game.The Storm led 11-5 in the first half when the wheels came off. Caldwell unleashed an 18-1 run to zoom into a 23-12 lead.But the Cobras went stone cold, going more than seven minutes without a point. During that stretch, DCCC scored 12 straight points and took a 24-23 lead on a pair of Torian Showers free throws.Jones buried a 3-pointer and Tyree Griffin converted a steal into a dunk as Caldwell went into halftime with a 28-24 lead.DCCC travels to Wytheville (Va.) Community College for a region contest on Saturday.Notes: Lawson had six assists and five steals … Townes had 13 rebounds.Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.